


About that Missing Possession Scene...

by dimplesofdiscontent



Series: Season 13 Meta [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: 13x23, Meta, Post-Season/Series 13, Season/Series 13, Season/Series 14 Speculation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-08
Updated: 2019-01-08
Packaged: 2019-10-06 12:57:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,194
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17345633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dimplesofdiscontent/pseuds/dimplesofdiscontent
Summary: This is a thought experiment written after the airing of the the Season 13 finale. The idea is that we could have a Dean/Cas kiss shown in a flashback next season. I emphatically am NOT saying this will happen or that I expect it to. But I want to consider it as a possibility. I know that in some sense we are all always turning a Destiel kiss over as an idea but this time I think there’s a consensus that this would have been the perfect opportunity–narratively and in character development–for Dean and Cas to share their first and possibly last kiss.Originally posted to Tumblr on May 21, 2018 with the tagsthought experiment, 13x23 meta, 13x23, season 14 speculation, season 14 wishlist, 11x10, michael!dean, possession narrative, narrative parallels, past canon, spn writers' room, wild speculation, not really even that just more like a theory, my meta





	About that Missing Possession Scene...

So I’ve been keeping deliberately quiet on the finale since, as the posts I have made or reblogged show, I wasn’t a fan. I’m still working on having critical distance enough to look at it in the season structure, larger narrative etc. Other people have been lifting my spirits and I’m grateful to them (especially [@elizabethrobertajones](https://elizabethrobertajones.tumblr.com/)!). But I’ve been performing my own thought experiment for a few days now and so I wanted to talk about it.

The idea is that we could have a Dean/Cas kiss shown in a flashback next season. Again, it’s a thought experiment because my confidence in Dabb and the writers (and the network) is very low right now. I emphatically am NOT saying this will happen or that I expect it to. But I want to consider it as a possibility, as I think many of you are already doing (and I apologize if someone else has already done a post on this that I missed because I haven’t kept up lately). I know that in some sense we are all always turning a Destiel kiss over as an idea but this time I think there’s a consensus that this would have been the perfect opportunity–narratively and in character development–for Dean and Cas to share their first and possibly last kiss. 

The reasons why a confession, and possible kiss, would have made sense at this point in the show’s narrative were something we talked to death so I’m not going to recap the reasons it would have been great narrative symmetry but some of them are in on [this post](https://dimples-of-discontent.tumblr.com/post/173164437201/that-endseason-destiel-buzz) by [@intelligentshipper](intelligentshipper.tumblr.com) and many more are under my “13x23 speculation” tag. 

There was this trolling:

Compounded by a tweet by Sam Smith that also referenced kissing and did the kiss-blowing thing. And, yes, we CANNOT AND MUST NOT take cast trolling (especially by Misha) seriously. But…it’s so. deliberate. And the way he blacked out all of the surroundings? Maybe the last scene we saw is definitely not the last scene he shot. 

Right, so it would have made sense for the narrative, character development, and use of past canon and the cast was joking about it. So why didn’t it happen or, rather, if it didn’t happen in the finale why would it happen in flashback?

1\. It would have been entirely wrong for the pacing and structure of the episode. If we had seen a kiss in live in its chronological place in the narrative it would have done two things. Well, three things. First, it would have broken Tumblr, which is a given. Second, it would have taken all the attention away from the Michael plot because honestly who the fuck would be watching through the tears and screaming and able to feel the gravitas of Lucifer’s much-delayed death and Michael’s betrayal of Dean? Third, it would not have gotten the proper amount screen time that it needed for how significant it is to the characters and story because of the breakneck pace of the finale. 

The momentum of the episode (such as it was…not gonna be salty about things here) was all about Michael and Lucifer and their conflict. A huge fucking game-changing event in one of the central relationships of the show made sense for the story of SPN but not for the story of 13x23. The climactic moment of 13x23  _had_  to be the one-two punch of Lucifer’s death and Michael’s takeover. The writers, and even Singer, are not dumb. They know why a huge proportion of the fans watch. If something so momentous were going to happen with Dean and Cas it would by  _default_  be the climactic moment of the episode. And (have your puns at the ready) the episode does not get to have that many climaxes. (*finger guns* hey-yo!)

Ok, you say, that makes sense. But why could it not just be the boring answer where there’s no kiss scene because it doesn’t happen? Of course it could. Given my shaken faith right now it probably is. But this post is a thought experiment so I’m going ahead with it.

2\. We  _didn’t_  get the scene where Michael possesses Dean. That is a WEIRD and SIGNIFICANT omission that we’ve all already been calling out. The only other time I can think of when one of the protagonists is possessed but we are not shown the moment of possession is when Cas allows Lucifer to possess him. We find out about it in a flashback (in 11x10) because they were saving it up as a major narrative reveal for the characters (in 11x14). In that case, the POV in the possession scene was Sam-and-Dean focused so when they didn’t see Cas say yes to Lucifer neither did we. We were then armed with dramatic irony by the end of the episode which showed the possession. If only Dean and Cas (and we) learn what happened in that fanfic gap, and Dean is gone, then Cas’s grief won’t make as much sense to anyone else as it does to us

Kiss or no kiss, confession or not, I expect to see Dean’s moment of possession in a flashback, most likely in the season opener. Because narratively, in terms of the show’s  _own canon_ , it’s too big a deal not to show at all. Dean’s saying or not saying yes to Michael was a huge part of the plot and pretty much directed the course of the rest of the world (see: Endverse). Among other things, it’s what Castiel rebelled for; which, in turn, made him who he is–a fact we were reminded in the episode that aired just before the finale. That moment of possession is  _so_  significant in the show’s  _own terms_  that choosing not to show it at all seems like bad storytelling. 

And if we do see it there’s at least a chance that we will get the missing interaction between Dean and Cas. Because it’s ALSO weird that we didn’t get a traditional totally platonic brohug and a “Cas stay here and look out for everyone.” Previous partings, like the one in 11x23, have been so…fraught (*waves at Misha*) by comparison that it seems like this would have been too. And, again, that wouldn’t have hit the correct emotional beats for the episode. In retrospect, however, it can gain both time and emotional significance as part of Cas’s grieving. 

3. In flashback it’s a reveal that could, narratively, be made at any time. Once you have shot Chekov’s gun you don’t get to shoot it again (or it won’t have the same effect). The kiss is the biggest loaded gun they have. It’s the Colt with its final bullet. And if it’s in a flashback they can choose to shoot it when and how it would have the most profound effect on the story, characters, and audience. I can totally see how that would  _not_  be in this season finale.

It’s very late here, so I’m going to wrap up. The results of my thought experiment are basically that it is possible but requires further study.

Kissing you all goodnight… 


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